This invention relates to a fish scaling apparatus and particularly to a portable fish scaling apparatus which can be conveniently stored and removed whenever a plurality of game fish are to be cleaned.
Many people enjoy fishing as a sport in contrast to commercial fishing. Inland lake fishing as well as large fresh water lake fishing and ocean fishing results in catching a substantial number of relatively small fish. Some of the fish of courset particularly on large inland lakes may reach sizes of many pounds. Generally, the average sports fisherman catches somewhat smaller fish in somewhat greater numbers. The individual sport fisherman has always been faced with the rather unpleasant task of cleaning the fish, and particularly the removing of the fish scales prior to preparation of the fish for eating. Various hand manipulated fish scaling devices have been developed and are widely used. The simple manual scraping device is generally less than totally acceptable. Although, motorized devices have been suggested, they too have not found wide usage and acceptance. Various larger power driven fish scaling apparatus has been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,605 which issued on Oct. 23, 1973, discloses a drum member mounted within another enclosure member. An electric motor pulley drive system is coupled to the inner drum to rotate the drum within a water bath. The peripheral wall of the drum includes an opening, with a door closure, for introducing of a number of small game fish into the inner drum. Rotation of the drum results in scaling of the fish. U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,526 which issued on Dec. 4, 1984 discloses a similar device with a drum having a plurality of projecting scaling members which are set to more effectively move the fish and affect the removal of the scales. A vertically oriented drum with a bottom motor drive for fish cleaning is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,860,371 which issued on Nov. 18, 1958. In this device, a drum, much in the nature of a vertically oriented wash machine drum, is provided with inward projections formed on radially inward projecting curved portions. The projections are specially formed and may include inward punctured openings defining the inwardly projecting scaling protrusion. The above and other fish scaling devices have been suggested.
Other devices have been suggested for scrubbing of other products such as potatoes, which involves a rotating drum mounted within a water or liquid cleaning trough. These and other structures are more fully discussed and shown in various U. S. Patents such as the following:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Issued Date Inventor ______________________________________ 1,064,558 06-10-1913 Smith 2,058,560 10-27-1936 Brandstrom 2,860,371 11-18-1958 Krull 3,766,605 10-23-1973 Bruns 4,485,526 12-04-1984 Opanasenko ______________________________________
Generally, the prior art devices appear to provide for relatively large in place devices. Thus once mounted, the devices are in place and the fish must be brought to the apparatus. Further, the inventor of the present invention is of the opinion that in addition to the lack of portability, the drive and drum structures would not appear to provide a highly effective, efficient and low cost fish scaling apparatus particularly with fish of different sizes and weights. The average sports fisherman often has limited financial resources and cannot afford a relatively expensive cleaning apparatus, particularly if the cleaning results are not totally satisfactory.
There remains therefore a rather distinct need for an effective but relatively inexpensive fish scaling apparatus which can be readily moved by the user not only with respect to storage but also is in completely different locations, for example, transport by the fisherman from each fishing site adjacent to the next fishing site and the like.